Good mattress is key to woman's dreams

Sylvia Griffin suffers from lupus and needs a better bed to help with back pain.

Dec. 27, 2012

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CLICK: Go to DesMoinesRegister.com/embraceiowa to find a link to download a contribution form. MAIL: Donations can be mailed to: Embrace Iowa, P.O. Box 310149, Des Moines, IA 50331-0149. CALL: 515-244-0307 for information on donating or if you are seeking help.

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The pain that has coursed through Sylvia Griffin’s body since she was diagnosed in 1991 with an autoimmune disease called lupus has made for a lot of sleepless nights.

Then the tingling and numbness started in her legs in 2011 and the nights grew even longer. By Thanksgiving of this year, Griffin’s hands and arms were also under assault by this new plague, and surgery was finally determined to be the only thing that might remedy the disc problems in her back that were causing it.

The calendar is marked on Jan. 7 for the invasive procedure to take place in Iowa City. The 57-year-old Griffin has reached out to The Des Moines Register-sponsored Embrace Iowa program for a better mattress to lay down on once she gets home.

“If you are middle-aged and your health goes bad it is tough,” said Griffin, who lives in Des Moines. “I’m on a fixed income and when you have to purchase big things it gets hard. You just can’t go out and buy it.”

Embrace Iowa helps Iowans pay for basics such as new appliances, car repairs, mattresses, pharmacy expenses and more. Money is dispersed throughout the winter, from donations made by Register readers.

Steady work has long been out of the picture for Griffin due to the complications that come with her lupus. Still, she does what she can to make a difference by helping care for her 83-year-old mother, who lives down the hall from her in an east-side apartment complex.

Just getting back and forth between apartments requires the use of a walker or a cane, but it provides Griffin with a much-needed sense of purpose.

“My mother had been in a nursing home but I told her I wanted to help her,” Griffin said. “I do whatever I have to do for her and that helps keep me going.”

What aren’t helping are the old, steel mattress springs Griffin battles each night.

Surgery or no surgery, they have to go.

“I pray,” Griffin wrote on her Embrace Iowa application, “you will consider me for this.”